Offering HPV vaccine to gay men curbs cancer rates

July 17 2013 - In Health

Doctors at the the Royal Liverpool University Hospital (UK) said gay men are more than 15 times more likely to develop genital cancer as a result of becoming infected with Human Papilloma Virus. Therefore they have called for the HPV vaccine to be offered to gay men too and not only to young girls.

An Australian research has shown that HPV vaccination of girls for sure has had an impact on the rates of genital warts in heterosexual men. According to a report by MedicalXpress there has been no such change in prevalence among gay men.

The HPV jab is effective in men, including gay men. The vaccine covers HPV 16 and 18, the two strains of the virus which cause most of the cancers (genital, head and neck) associated with the infection.
HPV is spread through sexual contact. It is usually associated with cervical cancer in women. It is the most commonly sexually transmitted infection in the U.S.

How HPV can be passed

• Between men and women, whether straight or same-sex partners by genital contact, most often during vaginal and anal sex.
• During oral sex (tumours of the tonsils and the back of the tongue)
• During genital-to-genital contact

Source: Dailymail